Exercise 5.2: Print quotes

Exercise 5.2: Print quotes

1. As part of the activities for this module I have looked at multiple vendors for the printing of images. There is a balance to be found between cost and quality. There is also a difference to be found be customer service in terms who wants to help, I found this quite refreshing in some cases

Most vendors wont give quotes, you simply use their website and through a series of selections are able to price of the work you want printed.  Many offer calibration cards and jpegs to help you get colours matching this on the screen t print card to help avoid the photographer seeing an image in colours of a certain shade on their screen being surprised when seeing the final print

2. The relevant print company will want a file in a preffered minimum file size. resolution (ideally 300 dpi) will need to be set as will the colour profile to match want the printer recommends (e.g. sRGB)

A significant element I've learnt as part of this landscape is that your printed images doe not have to fully fill the paper size. Of course when thinking about this, many framed printed images are not filly filling the frame but will have a border of some kind. Prints for the assignments and assessments will benefit from this approach of having a decent border. paper type, weight and type of print can vary considerably

3. Can an image on inkjet be considered a photograph. I wonder where this question has come from as pre-digital the photograph was what was developed on the photographic paper was the photograph. The medium from which the camera captured image is put onto is my mind is the photograph/in the digital world until this point its a digital image.

The quality of an image produced by an inkjet print may have a variable quality and traditionally will be on normal paper but can be printed onto photographic paper. In the same way a vendor produced photographic print can also vary in quality.

Wikipedia's definition of a photograph is "a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused on to light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally". I would tend to a agree do an inkjet print is a photograph but likely not of a quality one might expect for a normal printed photograph. It all depends on the requirement

Exercise 5.1: Origins of the White Cube

Exercise 5.1: Origins of the White Cube

Reading Thomas McEvilley’s introduction to Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space I've detailed a summary of key points mt own personal reflections.

For others who may struggle finding a link, try this:
https://monoskop.org/images/8/8e/ODoherty_Brian_Inside_the_White_Cube_The_Ideology_of_the_Gallery_Space.pdf

McEvelley in his introduction sets out some key points as to how the modern gallery is:

1. The Object - Like an Egyptian tomb there is a desire to create an illusion of time being frozen for the pictures displayed and protected from age. I think an attempt to keep the image remote from the outside world and away from its current influences. 

2.  The Viewer - The exhibition space is to be considered ritual / symbolic but only viewable for people of a similar disposition with a similar outlook or viewpoint

3.  The Context - Sterile and white or perhaps from new beginnings. Prior to digital so perhaps the starting place of the photograph on the white photographic paper. Perhaps a disembodiment for the viewer leaving behind everything and being grateful for what the eye discovers in the cube. 

Whilst the text was written 30 years ago I find again a common theme for essays or critiques written much longer ago to use a style of writing and reference that is deemed only understandable and accessible by an elite few and so distinguish the author from peers or people considered of a lower standing.

Interestingly modern photography is accessible to all people. There is an art to creating a photograph, rather than taking a photograph, so the end result is that art has been created. I think its great that many people can now shape what photography is.

However what i did like was the view that someone walking into a gallery is able to remove pre-conceptions or wrappings of their life, perhaps like having a shower, before entering the white cube and being able to see the images displayed in an remote and timeless area. 

I think a gallery should be open and available to all. Photographic art is not created for a select few, its for everyone to enjoy and discover the photographer's or even their own message. The setting for allowing this to happen is quite poignant and the idea of a white cube does happily resonate with me. A cleansing before hand, like a glass of water before wine cleanses the mind and enjoys the full richness of the images to be enjoyed